Google search trends in sport 2022: Ash Barty, Shane Warne death captivate Australia

Tragic deaths and tennis stars dominated our search history in 2022, while interest in the NRL and AFL plummeted. See Aussie’s Google sports habits from the year.

Ash Barty, Nick Kyrgios and Shane Warne were among the most googled Australian sports stars of 2022 with insights from the past year revealing some interesting trends that could spell danger to our major sporting codes in the ever-changing sporting landscape.

While Barty’s Australian Open triumph then shock retirement ensured she was the No.1 most googled living Australian in 2022, ahead of Kyrgios and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it was the shock death of Warne that really captured attention.

Ash Barty’s Australian Open win and shock retirement made her the most googled person in Australia in 2022. Picture: David Caird.

Shane Warne was the fourth most searched for topic in Australia in 2022, behind Wordle, Australian Open and World Cup but still ahead of Ukraine and Novak Djokovic.

In fact Warne and fellow Australian Olivia Newton John led the list of most popular searches for those who died in 2022, ahead of Queen Elizabeth in fourth, fellow cricketer Andrew Symonds in sixth and former Queensland State of Origin coach Paul Green in 10th.

The tragic passing of cricket icon Shane Warne broke Australian’s hearts. Picture: Getty Images.

Perhaps the most intriguing insights came around the topic of sports, with neither the AFL or NRL featuring in the top 10 list in Australia.

The AFL came in at No.2 on the 2021 list with the NRL at No.4, but both dropped completely out of the top 10 in 2022 as tennis emerged as the trending sport of choice.

The Australian Open came in at No.1, ahead of World Cup, Ashes and Winter Olympics.

The Rugby League World Cup was No.5, with tennis tournaments Indian Wells (No.6) and ATP Cup (No.8) either side of the Commonwealth Games at No.7.

Interest in the NRL and AFL plummeted, as Tennis became the most googled sport in Australia. Picture: Getty Images.

The AFLW competition proved the growth of the women’s game to come in at No.9 on the list, ahead of the NBL at No.10.

Google noted in their analysis that: “Tennis caused quite a racket as Djokovic, Nadal and Medvedev topped the global figures list, while Ash Barty broke records and became the top trending Australian individual in 2022.

“And our support for women in sport didn’t stop there, as AFL Women’s joined the top 10 trending sports for the first time.”